


The Demon Within

by Dharsi



Series: Tales [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Asriel Dreemurr Lives, Angst, Chara doing what they do best, Character Development, Female Frisk, Gen, Happily Ever After, Monsters live on the Surface, Or not, Possessed Frisk, Possession, Post-Pacifist Route, References to No Mercy Route
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 08:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6111349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dharsi/pseuds/Dharsi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The monsters finally got out of the Underground, and are now living happily on the surface! Yay!</p><p>But when a dire situation arises, Frisk realizes They aren't gone yet. And They're thirsty for blood.</p><p>Frisk really needs to learn how to control herself, and control Them, or else it might not end well for her. Nor for anyone involved.</p><p>---------</p><p>Tales is a series of disconnected short stories. You do not need to read part one before reading this, don't worry!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy everyone!
> 
> Just to get you up to date in case you haven't read my first story (which you don't need to read in order to understand this one, don't worry): monsters have escaped from the Underground, and, unlike in the original game, here, Asriel's Soul was not actually destroyed when he died, long ago.
> 
> It actually lingered after his death thanks to Chara's Determination, which he had absorbed. So when Frisk fought him after he had absorbed all the Souls of the Underground, he recovered his Soul and could survive as his true self.

It had been a long time since the monsters had gotten out of the Underground. A few years already. Time sure flew by. It hadn't been an easy task, getting the humans to accommodate to the presence of monsters alongside them. Especially at the very beginning, and a lot of disasters were narrowly avoided. Frisk could thank her guardian angel, she hadn't had to Reset since then. She was still Saving regularly, and although she didn't think she would have to Reset ever again, it was reassuring to have a safety net and to feel her Determination, strong and sharp as ever. 

"Come on, Frisk, pick up the pace, we're going to be late for class!"

Asriel's voice brought Frisk back to the present, and her eyes opened wide as she realized that the other pupils were far ahead of them, already entering their respective classrooms. She had been daydreaming, again.

"Oh, shoot!" She exclaimed, starting to jog, Asriel closely following behind her, as they ran to their class. The gray stone buildings of the school had something a little bit demoralizing to them, and, since winter was coming, the trees had lost almost all of their leaves.

The ground was covered with a brown and golden carpet of leaves. As per usual, instead of just stepping on it, the two latecomers dug their boots under the leaves and kicked them in the air on each step, laughing their hearts off.

This playing reminded Frisk of how she used to play with the leaves in the Ruins. Back then, she had no one to play with and nothing else to do, and she had spent a lot of time simply crinkling through the patch of leaves scattered throughout Toriel's former home.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted it again, just as expected. It never failed to appear when they played with the leaves. Her Determination star. Her Save. She stopped playing through the leaves and called Asriel:

"Hey, Asriel! There it is! Come!"

Her adoptive brother was still playing, eyes closed. He abruptly stopped, and excitedly turned towards her, a big smile on his face.

Not only was it fun to play around in the leaves, it also allowed Frisk to gather up the Determination to Save. She turned towards the spinning yellow star, still a bit weirded out by its unnatural appearance, even after all this time.

Asriel quickly caught up with Frisk, and, like some form of ritual, they both crouched and reached out a hand to touch the star. It was warm and soft to the touch, but as soon as Frisk's fingers came in contact with it, it started spinning faster than before, then disappeared in a flash.

"There you go! Now let's go to class."

 

Since the end of Frisk's journey through the Underground, her life had changed a lot. They had had to go through a lot in order for the monsters to finally be able to live happily on the surface, but that is a story for another day.

Now, Frisk lived with the Dreemurr family, and had been officially adopted. She could feel a little spark light up in her Soul each time she wrote "Frisk Dreemurr" on her school papers.

Toriel worked, of course, as a teacher. She taught in the same middle school Frisk and Asriel went to, but did her best not to end up their teacher. She knew she would not be able to refrain herself from pampering them, and she knew it would only lead to embarrassment and jealousy.

She could always drive them to school, having obtained her driver's license very quickly. But she had to be at school earlier than her children, since she also had to prepare for her day's classes, and they both liked walking to school instead.

Asgore had decided to live a humble life, at least compared to the life he used to live as King of all Monsters. With the capitals letters. When they had gotten out of the Underground, a lot of monsters were in need of a home. And he had been the first one to build some for them, with the help of professionals. He had quickly become good at the job, and had decided to stick with it.

He had not had a lot of work to do since most monsters, their old currency being pure gold, which was very valuable on the Surface, were richer than they first anticipated. A mere gold coin, which used to equal next to nothing, was worth around two thousand "dollars", as they were called. So the monsters were somewhat rich, since most of them at least carried a few hundreds of these.

Asgore and Toriel once more lived under the same roof, and although it had been tense between them at first, the mistakes of the past seemed, for the most part, to have been forgotten. Their relationship was improving on a daily basis. Gerson was right when he had said that these two were really in love with each other.

 

The school day was mostly uneventful. Frisk's class had a paper handed back to them, and, as per usual, Frisk had enough points to pass the test, while Asriel obtained a nearly perfect mark. He seemed to love schoolwork, while Frisk could really not care less for it. Thanks to her innate capabilities, she was able to succeed without working too much, but Asriel always spent hours learning his lessons and doing his exercises, which she did not understand.

As the day's last bell rang, they quickly packed their stuff up and exited the classroom. Frisk raised her head. The Sun was already about to set. She waited outside the building for Asriel to come out. He was usually one of the last pupils to leave class.

When she saw, amongst her other classmates, his familiar floppy ears and bright white fur, she walked over to him, smiling, and together they took their way home, chattering all the while.

As they passed through the gate marking the entrance to the school, still talking about their respective day, even though they shared the same classroom, Frisk noticed a familiar face: Snowy, the young Snowdrake who had lost his mother in an experiment.

His feathers were battered by the wind as he ran straight towards them. Frisk briefly wondered why he was running to the school. He should be going home, shouldn't he?  
Asriel, too absentminded to care, was still blabbering happily, but Frisk was not listening anymore. Even after all this time, she was still on her guard whenever a monster looked distraught. She could feel the muscles in her back tense up in anticipation. Her smile instantly disappeared, replaced with a glacial expression.

"… So that exercise wasn't so hard, and…" Asriel stopped in the middle of his sentence, noticing something off with his adopted sister. He tilted his head slightly, frowning.  
"Uh… Frisk? Is anything wrong?"

Right as he asked her, Snowy finally made his way through the crowd, pushing some other kids aside without meaning to, shouting a rushed excuse from time to time. As he reached them, Frisk started to hear the sound of his filed talons smashing the concrete.

He looked utterly shocked, and was almost flapping his arms like wings, unconsciously trying to speed himself up. His wild running ended abruptly next to Frisk, as he called her name. Asriel jumped, startled, before smiling at his friend.

"Hey Snowy, what's going on?"

Frisk immediately put both hands on Snowy's shoulders, or whatever the equivalent was, and looked into his eyes, trying to reassure him. His feathers felt cold to the touch, as always.

"Snowy, calm down. It's alright. Tell me what's wrong."

The monster quickly replied, his breathing too short to form long sentences. He was clearly too shocked to think straight. His eyes darted around, filled with nothing but fear.

"It's… It's… Kid! He… bullies… oh, no. Frisk! Help him!"

Frisk's right hand trembled for a moment. She could feel a burning sensation rising from deep within her. Anger. Her glacial expression turned colder yet, and her next question was almost a shout:

"Where is he?"

Snowy took no time at all to answer, starting to finally catch his breath:

"In the alley, on the way to his home! You know, where…"

Frisk didn't need to hear anymore. She knew exactly what alley he was talking about. The one she did not like in the slightest. The dark one. Kid was truly about to have some problems.

"I know which one you're talking about. Don't worry, I'll help him."

Asriel, despite the grim situation, could not help but feel the heroism of the moment, and it made him feel like one of the heroes in the comic books he was reading. As Frisk started running towards the aforementioned alley, he took off after her, but not without an over-the-top "I'm on the case, Snowy!" which did not sound as epic as it sounded in his head. Oh well.

 

The alley really looked bad. The buildings on either side of it were dilapidated, almost uninhabited. Two big green trash cans were lined up on the left wall, and the ground looked almost silty from all the water and trash. Really not a good place to hang out.

What was Kid doing here?

It didn't matter anyway. He needed help. His back against the wall, he was glancing all around him, looking for an escape, surrounded by two older kids that Frisk didn't recognize.

Asriel was following closely behind her, and he almost bumped into her when she froze.

Her body trembled for a moment. She felt a freezing sensation in her back, a chill, going up her spine

Her mouth was wide open in horror as she saw the movement. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion.

The bully raised his arm. Brought it down.  
Kid was looking badly beaten up, but he was still standing. His gazed defiant, he winced when he saw the raised fist rush towards him. Turned his head to mitigate the damage.

At this moment, his gaze met Frisk's. Oh how that smile was haunting. The hope on his face was real, but cut short as the bully hit him hard in the back of the head.

His eyes opened wide in pain, and a soundless scream escaped from his mouth.

That blow… He fell to the floor, unable to stop his head from colliding with the hard concrete.

It made the same noise as Snowy's talons.

But it wasn't the only noise Frisk heard.  
A noise she had not heard in a really long time.  
A noise she didn't want to hear ever again.  
A noise she had heard a lot in her darkest times.

The death of a monster.

Her scream of empathic agony ripped apart the silence which reigned in her head.

Asriel's scream echoed with hers, an improvised concerto sung by two Souls, broken by the death of their common friend.

The bullies jumped in surprise and turned towards the newcomers. They looked lost and helpless. They surely had not expected their victim to literally turn to dust.

Frisk's voice gave out. She was out of air to scream, and fell to her knees. Putting both hands on her chest, she could feel her heart beating. She could feel her Soul pulsating. She clenched her fists so hard she could feel her nails almost piercing her own skin.

Her breathing was short. Her legs were shaking. But she stood up nonetheless. Her shocked expression had been replaced by a wicked smile. Her head hung low, as if not wanting to meet the gaze of her soon-to-be victims.

A soundless snicker escaped her mouth. Her hands were hanging low on both sides of her body, still clenched into fists.

Her quiet laugh quickly gained in volume until the bullies, and Asriel, could clearly hear it. It sounded almost maniacal. Crazy. As wicked as her smile.

She suddenly stopped.

"Frisk…?" Asriel muttered, bewildered.

She shot him a glance, and he felt his spine tingle with horror.

"Oh no… Please, no…"

The human looked up at the two bullies, still smiling widely.

"You… You…"

Her right fist closed around a knife.

Her eyes were glittering red.

"You're gonna have a bad time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I would really love to receive some feedback from you, as I tried a different, more fast-paced and lighter writing style.  
> Please tell me what you think. Should I do more in-depth descriptions or stick to this style?


	2. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time around, but the next one is coming right after it, and oh boy is the next one going to be harsh.

**Boom. Boom.**

Slowly awakening from unconsciousness and still groggy, Frisk didn't even try to open her eyes. Her body hurt so much. She felt her right leg aching atrociously. Her chest hurt every time she breathed in. With difficulty, she slowly raised her right hand in order to touch her still closed left eye, which felt weird.

When her finger made contact with her eyelid, she gasped. The sudden pain made her body jerk, and her right eye shot open. The sudden influx of light created a burning sensation behind her eye, on her optical nerve, and she closed it again. She decided she would have to wait a little longer before getting up.

**Boom. Boom.**

She took the time to feel every single one of her limbs. Her right leg seemed to ache profusely, but she didn't dare look at what might be causing the commotion. Her other leg felt fine, or at least as fine as it could feel at the moment.

Her arms were sore, but not broken, and she slowly moved them around, waiting for a jolt of pain that never came. Her chest, as she could feel, had been hit hard, since she had difficulties breathing correctly. Her left eye was busted, but other than that, her face was fine. She felt thankful her jaw hadn't been hurt.

**Boom. Boom.**

She could feel her heartbeat resonating through her entire body, beating like a drum, the flow of blood making her veins bulge. She had reached that state of heightened bodily perception that could only be attained through meditation or great physical pain. It felt unnatural and unpleasant.

She decided to focus on something else, trying to forget about it. She was lying down, on a flat surface. The ground? No, she could feel her right hand hanging down from the side of the floor she was lying on. She dragged her fingers across the surface. It felt like wood.

**Boom. Boom.**

The air was warm and heavy, indicating that she was indoors. Despite the bright light, she tried her best to open her eyes. Curiosity was killing her, and she needed to know where she was. A hospital, perhaps? No, she would be lying in a bed, had she been in a hospital. Her left eye was also somewhat opening itself, but her vision from that eye was blurry and useless, so she decided to only open her right eye. It was slowly getting used to the light.

When she could finally see the world around her, it took her a long while to understand where she was. She was in a small room, empty if not for the plank of wood she was lying on, which was affixed to the wall with metal chains. On the opposite side of the room, there was no wall, just a row of vertical bars. And on the other side of these bars, there was a police agent sitting at a small desk, doing some paperwork. There also was a pot plant and two chairs rested against the wall. Above the door was a clock, but Frisk could not see what time it was. Everything was somewhat blurry.

**Boom. Boom.**

A sense of worry crept through her mind as she realized exactly where she was. She was being kept in custody. What was she doing here? Why was she alone? And why was she behind bars? She tried her best to remember what had happened before she fell unconscious. She could remember the rush. She was running somewhere. But why…

Asriel was with her. That she could remember. There was also Snowy. He had been there. But he was not rushing. Had he stayed behind? She didn't know. He looked panicked. For some reason, he was afraid. It was something about Kid. They were leaving school, and Snowy ran to them to tell them something about Kid.

**Boom. Boom.**

Frisk sat up instantly, sending jolts of pain down her back and making her head spin. Her mouth opened in a scream, but her vocal chords could not utter anything more than a raspy, dying cat sound. Kid! She remembered clearly now. The bullies, the alley, the punch, and his smile. His haunting smile. His dust. No.

That's when her memory stream abruptly ended. She remembered the sight of her friend turning to dust right in front of her. It had been unbearable. It had reminded her of her own sins. Of who she had once been. Of what she had once been. That had to have been what made her faint. But how did she get hurt so much?

**Boom. Boom.**

Did the bullies attack her, too? Her mind quickly forgot about that thought as she asked herself another question: what about Asriel? Had they hurt him? That burning anger expressed itself once more as she thought of her brother getting beaten up by two reckless children. She hoped the police had caught them, too.

Which brought her back to her initial question: what was she doing behind bars? She had passed out in the middle of the street, surely they had nothing to hold against her. Perhaps they were just keeping her here waiting for someone to come pick her up, or waiting for her to wake up. But where was Asriel?

**Boom. Boom.**

She was slowly getting used to her sitting position, and felt more and more confident. She tried to vocalize a little, clearing her throat. But doing so caught the attention of the policeman sitting at the desk, and, taking a look at her, he took out his walkie-talkie, and spoke quietly into it, his eyes never looking away from Frisk.

"She's up. They can come."

They? Frisk felt a sparkle of joy in her Soul. Was he talking about her family? She longed for her mother's embrace, for her brother's smile, for her father's voice. She missed them sorely, after the recent events. It was really frightening for her to wake up alone, behind bars, not knowing what had happened to her.

"Alright, but they insisted on sending the child alone."

"I don't care."

The communication ended with a click, and the agent spoke to Frisk one last time, slowly getting up from his chair:

"Alright, little weirdo, your "brother" will be there in a moment. I'll let you two chat a bit alone, but don't you dare try anything. We've got cameras."

His tone was ice cold, and the sarcastic quotations marks could be heard around the word "brother". Frisk gritted her teeth and frowned, refusing to answer. He stood up, sighing, and walked towards the door. He opened it right as another agent was about to do so. Their gazes met and they both nodded shortly.

Frisk's heart skipped a beat.

Asriel was there.


	3. The Demon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, originally, Chapter 3 was going to follow Chapter 2 closely, but I've run into some problems, such as losing all the data on this :/  
> Chapters 1&2 were fine, I could just copy them from the site, but I had to rewrite Chapter 3, and wasn't really thrilled by the idea, so it took some time.
> 
> But finally, here it is!

Asriel was there, beside them, peeking inside the room, looking for her. He quickly spotted her. She was waiting for him to see her and smile brightly, but he never did. Instead he stayed stern.

His red eyes pierced through Frisk, breaking her heart in half. Good thing her Soul was unaffected by emotions, as it would have shattered right here and there. They stared at each other for a long time, and, eventually, the agents closed the door behind Asriel, leaving them alone in the soundless room. 

She could read in him like an open book. Worry, wariness, and even disgust could filter through this burning gaze. She thought back of the nightmare she had had right before they left the Underground. His look was just as crushing as it had been in that bad dream.

Except there was a glimmer of a smile shining under the negative emotions.

He was tense, his mouth shut tight, his fists clenched. His eyes shone in the light, revealing the tears she could not see yet.

Frisk didn't know what to say. She had expected to greet him as usual, but now she was at a loss for words. Asriel had never looked at her like that. Instead, she just asked, in her raspy voice:

"Is… Is everything alright? What happened to you?" She was feeling very uneasy.

Hearing her voice had a visible effect on him. His whole body relaxed at once, and his face lit up once more, although not as bright as it used to be. The faint smile that blossomed on his lips revealed his small protruding fangs. Frisk felt her heart beat again.

Asriel walked over, closing the distance that separated him from his sister. He stopped at the edge of her cell, grasping the bars with his hands. His voice was soft when he replied:

"Frisk… I should be asking that question. What happened to you?" He sounded worried.

Frisk let out a forced chuckle:

"I don't know, Asri. I guess I got beaten up. I can see they didn't do anything to you. Thank goodness."

Asriel suddenly tilted his head to the side, intrigued.

"What are you talking about? Don't you remember?"

"Remember what? Kid? Of course I remember!" She had spoken a bit louder than she had intended to. The sight of Kid turning to dust in front of her. It was too much to bear. Anger burned once again deep within her, as tears came up to her eyes.

"No I'm not talking about… Oh." Asriel had stopped himself mid-sentence, seeming to have realized something. Before Frisk could ask anything, he kept going.

"Frisk. Do you remember what happened next? What happened to them?"

He was leaning in, his face almost pressed against the bars, his snout in between two of them. It would have been funny had the situation not been this serious and grim, and had Frisk's tears not been hindering her sight.

Frisk buried her own face in her hands, trying hard to remember. But she could see nothing but emptiness. Her last memory was that of Kid turning to dust right before her very eyes. Her head was starting to ache, and she stopped, wondering if their was a way to get some pain relievers. She looked once more at her brother:

"How could I remember? I was unconscious!"

Asriel did not seem surprised by this. He only nodded grievously.

"Oh no, this is exactly what I thought." He looked embarrassed and uneasy. His eyes darted away from Frisk, looking to the sides. Frisk felt more and more worried by the second. Questions started to seep in her mind. Had she really been unconscious, or could she just not remember? Asriel seemed to really hesitate. He obviously did not want to tell her. Frisk was starting to have an idea of what had really happened. She remembered feeling that oh so familiar feeling of burning hatred, right before "fainting". Could it be? No, she hadn't done that, had she?

"How do I break it to you… Uh, Frisk, you… You weren't really unconscious. Well, no, that's not true. Technically you were, but… Your body… Wasn't."

He was searching for the right words, hesitating a lot. But the message was clear.

Frisk's entire body froze. She felt a horrible cold sensation in her belly and on her forehead. Horror. That's what it was. She was horrified as her mind grasped the meaning of what Asriel was saying. Her gaze fell to the ground, empty. As did her hands. Her mouth opened in shock, and she started shaking.

She knew. She knew what had happened. It was them. The demon within her. Chara, as they called themselves. The memories were flooding in now. The unexplained knife, which seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was them. The fear and horror on their victim's face. The sound of the blade tearing the flesh apart. The sudden pain as she got hit in the face. In the leg. Stab. Once. Twice. Again.

"Frisk, please, don't…"

And again.

**Boom. Boom.**

And again. The blood flowing freely, erupting from the pierced veins and arteries in a fountain of red, tainting her face. The metallic scent filling the air. His eyes rolled back into their orbits, empty, as his last breath escaped his body. His blood was on her hands. On her face

_One down. One to go._

She could see it now. The expression of pure horror on their second victim's face, as he witnessed the death of his friend, fallen to the hands of a psychopathic, revenge driven killer.

_Serves you right._

**Boom. Boom.**

This one had been ended in one clean strike. Straight through his throat. He had gasped, spat some blood straight in her face. But she hadn't cared. She could feel life slowly leaving his body, she could feel his inner struggle to hold on. Too bad. He had died, like his friend before him, without having been given any chance of survival.

She had fallen to the ground, bringing his limp body down with her, and both of them had lied down quietly in the stone alley. That is when she had finally fainted, their gruesome deed finally accomplished.

She could remember everything now, as if they had been waiting for her to realize what had happened before letting her remember all the details. These feelings, these memories. They reminded her of… That time. That one Reset. The one she had been trying to forget. But she could still feel her sins, weighing on her neck. Were they going to one day leave her alone?

"No… No no no no…"

Frisk buried her face in her palms and scratched her nails on her skull, trying to dig these memories out of her brain, all the while chanting madly, louder and louder with each passing moment. Falling to her knees, her right leg gave in to her weight and she fell completely to the ground, on her side. Rolling into a ball, her chanting became loud enough that her throat hurt. But she did not care.

**Boom. Boom.**

Her heart was beating faster than ever, blood rushing to every part of her body. The fast drumming drove her mad. The pain drove her mad. The knowledge drove her mad. She had murdered them. Coldly. Taking pleasure in their suffering, taking pleasure in ending their life, one knife strike at a time.

**Boom. Boom.**

"Frisk! Can you hear me?" Asriel was utterly panicked. He did not know what to do. He could not help Frisk, as he didn't have the key. And she was rolling on the floor like a mad demon. His own sister. The one who had saved him. He closed his eyes and promised to himself he would do the same for her. Just as she had freed him from his inner demons, he would free her from hers.

**Boom. Boom.**

Right at this moment, an agent opened the door in a whim, rushing in the room, key in hand. As he reached for the door, Asriel called to him:

"Please! Let me in! I can help her!"

He started running towards the now open door, but the policeman forcefully shoved him aside. He landed on his tail with a yelp, and stayed here, lifting his left arm as if to defend himself. He realized the man was carrying some sort of pointy object. A needle?

**Boom. Boom.**

The policeman entered Frisk's cell, and, with professional precision, blocked every single one of her limbs, paralyzing her. She kept struggling, but not in an attempt to hurt him. She was trapped in her inner world, too busy fighting with herself to fight back.

The policeman readied the needle in his right hand, exposed Frisk's right arm, and plunged it gently in her body, piercing her skin to administer the sedative.

**Boom. Boom.**

It was painful to Asriel, seeing his adoptive sister like this. Her mad struggles soon slowed down as the drug came into effect, and she slowly fell asleep. The agent picked up her limp body and deposited it gently on the plank of wood. Calmly, he exited the cell, making sure to lock the door behind him.

"Come on, kid. You'll see her tomorrow."

Asriel followed the man out of the room, but not without shooting one last glance at Frisk.

_I promise._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading^^!


End file.
